The present invention relates to a vehicular power window regulator, and more particularly to a vehicular power window regulator adapted to absorb compression and tension relative to curvilinear motion of window glass when the window glass is lifted.
Generally, power window regulators are apparatus for automatically sliding up and down a vehicular door window glass according to vertical manipulation of a power window switch. A power window regulator according to the prior art, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is mounted with a guide rail 104 underneath a door glass 102. The guide rail 104 is rotatably mounted with a main arm 106 and a sub arm 108, which cross in X-arm shape. The main arm 106 is connected thereunder to a driving motor 112 by way of a sector gear 110, while the sub arm 108 is rotatably connected thereunder to one side of the door trim. The driving gear 112 is meshed with the sector gear 110 to rotate same within a predetermined range, while the sector gear 110 is connected to the main arm 106 to rotate same and to allow the door glass 102 to slide up and down.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a hinged connection structure between the guide rail 104 and the main arm 106 includes a slider 116 slidably arranged at the guide rail 104, a slider shaft 118 vertically protruded from the slider 116 and a hinge groove formed at the main arm 106 for the slider shaft 118 to be inserted thereinto.
In the conventional power window regulator thus described, when the motor 112 is driven, the sector gear 110 rotates the main arm 106, and by the rotation of the main arm 106, the slider 116 moves along the guide rail 104 to move the door glass 102 up and down. The main arm 106 is vertically operated on a linear route while the door glass 102 moves on a curvilinear route, because the door glass 102 is shaped with predetermined curvature. As a result, compression and tension are generated at the connection area between the guide rail 104 and the main arm 106. These forces arise from the paths followed by those two parts in lifting of the door glass 102 such that the main arm 106 is bent inwardly and outwardly, and the sector gear 110 and the driving motor are not properly meshed, resulting in generation of noise.
In order to overcome the afore-mentioned problems, the driving motor and sector gear are often reinforced, or the size of teeth at the gears is increased to prevent mis-meshing, but these measures can hardly be a fundamental solution as only strength has been increased against the compression and tension generated by vertical motion of the door glass. There is another problem with the reinforced strength thus described in that weight and size of each part, including parts of the main arm, are increased, resulting in an increase in the manufacturing cost and the overall weight of the regulator.
The present invention provides a vehicular power window regulator adapted to allow compression and tension generated during vertical motion of a door glass to be compensated at a connection area between a main arm and a guide rail to prevent the main arm from being bent, and to reduce noise generated in a sector gear, whereby there is no need of increasing weight or size of each part for reinforced strength, leading to reduction in manufacturing cost and overall weight.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular power window regulator, comprising a guide rail, a main arm, a driving motor and flex means. The guide rail is fixed to a lower end of the door glass. The main arm and a sub arm are connected for linear motion on the guide rail and mounted crosswise. The driving motor is connected to a sector gear mounted underneath the main arm to rotate the main arm. The flex means provides flexibility to a connection area between the main arm and the guide rail when the door glass vertically moves. The flex means includes a slider mounted on the guide rail, a slide shaft on the slider, and a grip. The grip has an inner circumferential surface placed over the slide shaft opposite the slider, and an external circumferential surface thereof inserted into the main arm.